The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) redesigned its Web site to make it more user-focused and visually appealing according to a voluntary customer satisfaction survey which was developed in an effort to evaluate the effectiveness of the redesign. In June 2001, ATSDR posted the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Customer Satisfaction Survey (OMB No. 09200-0028) to the home page of the ATSDR Web site. The original survey was 21-questions designed to provide ATSDR an analysis on how often people visited the site, what sort of information they were seeking, and how they used the material they found. In addition there were a number of questions about the “look” of the site. The data gathered was to be utilized to further improve content and navigation. Because of an extremely low response rate the number of questions was reduced by over 60% in 2002. This still did not significantly increase the number of respondents. The survey remained on the Web site until September 30, 2003 when it was pulled. In over two years, less than 20 people responded to the survey. An analysis of the survey effort seems to indicate that people don’t tend to respond to surveys unless they are being compensated. This conclusion is based on a comparison of earlier efforts undertaken by ATSDR where respondents were compensated, resulting in a much higher return rate.

The study examined research integrity measures used by laboratory directors. Specific focus was placed on how laboratory directors stored their original data, the length of time data are retained, and the use of authorship polices and the degree of mentoring/supervising. The electronic survey had a 58% response rate and the self-report findings are based on the responses of 3000 NIH funded laboratory directors. Findings: We learned that laboratories use many methods of data storage; lab notebooks were identified as being used by only 39% of respondents. Less than 5% of laboratory directors reported that they used written guidelines to educate those in the laboratory about authorship and publication guidelines. On average the directors report working a 60 hour week and are present in the lab half of the time. However, lab directors report spending most of their time on administrative work or their own research and thus they spend about 12 hours a week mentoring (for the average lab of 6). Implications: One implication of this finding is that laboratories need to develop a reliable computerized data storage system as well as written guidelines on publication practices in their field. In addition laboratory directors mentoring and supervision practices deserves further study.

A Web Site Usability Study was conducted by Human Factors International (HFI) to evaluate the current NIAMS public website design for usability and accessibility, and to provide recommendations about changes that could be made to improve the user experience. The study revealed several issues with the website: 1) Top level organization: Research and training link names did not reflect content contained within. 2) Some information was difficult to find, for example, Budget info, NIAMS address, and policy information. 3) Integration with NIH. There are dozens of links to NIH, the integration between the sites needs to be better. 4) Search function results were poor, the whole site was not searched. 5) The intramural site is completely separate from the main site, where it should remain. 6) The graphic appearance of the site as whole was boring. Based on this study, HFI highly recommended that a redesign of the NIAMS website be done.

This study examined the responses of an online survey conducted to evaluate if enhancements from a redesign of the NIDCD Web site increased user performance and satisfaction. Using a pop up window of 10 questions in an online user satisfaction survey, users who visited the site were asked to assess the overall satisfaction of their visit. Random users were asked about their previous knowledge of the site; why they were visiting; what type of information they were looking for; their success in finding information; their assessment of the quality of information; and their overall impression of the site in terms of navigation and content. Major findings included the following: more than 1770 users completed the survey and the results showed: 1) 92% of respondents found the site “very” or “somewhat” helpful; 2) 93% of respondents found it “easy” or “somewhat easy” to find information on the site; and 3) 96 % of respondents would “definitely” or “probably” use the site again.

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